switzr1 those look like Indy wrestlers. They can't really compete with the WWE, much like independent card makers can't compete with Topps, especially now that Topps has negotiated a monopoly with MLB. We all saw how well that worked for customers of the cable industry. Trading card fans are a commodity to be licensed out to the highest bidder.
I find making cards more fun than dealing with Topps endless parade of variations, inserts, and short prints. I can't imagine kids trying to get involved with card collecting today. It's all geared toward the card shop types that sucked the fun out of the hobby in the eighties. The psychology is just like shooting dice, except that it's legal to involve kids.
I'm about 540 cards into a 660 card set for the 2014 season based on the 1964 theme. I started doing it because I knew I could improve on claiming "50th anniversary" on the 49th anniversary and using lame instagram style filters. My feeling is that if Topps is going to do such a lousy job of serving card collectors, DIY hobbyists should step up their game.
Now if you want to tell me that DIY is too much noise in the channel, I agree, but the channel is already full of garbage when a search for Bryce Harper in 2014 yields eleven pages of mostly blank and irrelevent "collectibles." The days when you could refer to a player and a year and point to a card that meant something are long gone thanks to the cynics.
Thanks!